NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA, January 6, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- 2022 was a successful year for Altenew, with many notable achievements, events, and innovations in the crafting industry. The New York-based online crafting store looks forward to continuing this success in the coming year and beyond. The company reflects on some of its significant achievements and noteworthy events from the past year, including hosting its first in-person crafting retreat in three years, returning to crafting world conventions such as the NAMTA Creativation tradeshow, continuous community service projects, holding its annual Celebrating Parents Card Drive, celebrating its 8th-year anniversary, releasing new crafting subscriptions, ink blending tools, and minimalist round dye inks, launching its sister brand, Artistry by Altenew (and releasing new artist-grade products), and obtaining its first-ever patent - the Stampwheel. With so much planned, Altenew is sure that 2023 will be another great year.
Papercrafting company Altenew experienced growth both domestically and internationally in 2022. The company increased its online presence by holding virtual crafting retreats and workshops, which helped the community stay in touch and get inspired to create in the comfort of their home. Returning back after a three-year hiatus from holding live events, Altenew successfully hosted its first in-person crafting event, which sold out within minutes.
“We are learning every single day,” Altenew CEO Nabil Rab shared in his 8th-anniversary video message. “One thing that we have learned is to reflect a little bit more in terms of our goals and milestones. I think that reflection and realizing that it’s not about some ideal ambiguous goals, but measuring ourselves and finding contentment in that.”
In terms of charitable work, Altenew continued its partnership with various organizations, including the Zakat Foundation of America and the Food Bank of Central New York. From supporting 9,000 nutritious meals for local New York residents and donating over 500 watercolor paint sets to senior centers and assisted living facilities across the United States to sponsoring a water well in Uganda and a hand pump in Nepal and hosting a watercoloring workshop for a diverse group of seniors living in a low-income housing neighborhood. Since its inception in 2014, community service has played a large part in Altenew’s vision, constantly being involved in handmade card drives and other efforts related to paper crafting. Altenew is proud that, as a company, it is able to give back not only financially but also with its time.
“In spite of some of the challenges we’ve had… we’re still growing, we’re still learning, and we’re still helping a lot of people craft and express their creativity. That’s something important to all of us and we’re glad that we still have that mission,” Nabil added.
Additionally, the company hosted several blog hops, giveaways, contests, and challenges via various platforms to ensure that its customers and fans stayed creative and engaged. These initiatives would not be possible without the help of its amazingly talented design team, guest designers, and passionate staff, who dedicate countless hours to making these projects happen.
2022 saw more innovative products from the Syracuse-based paper crafting store. Altenew released several new products and added new product categories to its store, including ergonomically designed ink-blending brushes, game-changing coloring stencils, 3D embossing folders, hot foil plates, metallic cardstock, scoring board, and gouache paints. Perhaps its biggest innovation so far, which has already sent shockwaves across the crafting industry even before its official release, is the Stampwheel.
“Designing a tool to make the process of stamp layering easier has been on my mind ever since we popularized layering stamps in the crafting industry,” Altenew's President and Co-Founder, Tasnim Ahmed, shared when asked about the company’s first product patent. Named after the round clear “wheel” that is placed over a stamping base, the Stampwheel aims to bring ease and convenience to the stamping process, especially for layering stamps or any other stamps that require very precise placement.
To top it off, last year, Altenew celebrated 8 years of inspiring creativity through its wide range of beautiful, timeless, and innovative paper crafting products. The company kicked off its week-long anniversary celebration with a free online class featuring its popular layering stencils, free shipping deals, a 5-day blog hop with expert paper crafters in the industry, an anniversary treasure hunt, and sending out thoughtfully designed personalized stamped sets to its most loyal customers.
Looking ahead into 2023, Altenew has even more exciting things planned, such as expanding its presence in the crafting industry through more local and international craft shows, product launches, community service, groundbreaking inventions, and fresh ideas for every crafter out there.
When asked about his goals for the future of Altenew, Nabil had this to say, “To continue inspiring individuals to express their creativity in their own way. Our tools, guides, and content are just there as a medium to help people express their creativity. As a team, we’re looking at doing more consistent philanthropic projects… beyond our card drives, workshops in different senior homes, and developing hand pumps or water wells in areas where there might not be much water… Be more intentional about hosting more workshops for areas or places that might not be getting that kind of exposure.”
As the company welcomes 2023 with open arms, the Altenew family would like to take a moment to reflect on all that has happened in the past year. It has been an amazing journey with highs and lows, but through it all, it has managed to stay strong because of the amazing customers, fans, partners, and industry friends, who have continuously shown their support.
Established in April 2014, Altenew strives to bring elegant, natural, and versatile designs to paper crafting products. Altenew knows that the personal, delicate touches of a handmade card or scrapbook page can bring joy to the most important people in your life, and it is proud to create products that help inspire creative projects and one-of-a-kind handmade creations.